


Camp Hope

by EliDeetz



Series: An Age Gap [1]
Category: Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Camp, F/M, Grumpy Barba, age gap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-22
Updated: 2017-08-02
Packaged: 2018-12-05 14:13:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11579715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EliDeetz/pseuds/EliDeetz
Summary: Inspired by OhBelieveYouMe's headcanon "An Age Gap".Stuck for a recommendation for a transfer to Colombia University at a kid's camp with strangers, an ex-friend, and a handsome green-eyed attorney.Not good at summaries, give this one a try!





	1. Part I

"This is a bad idea," she muttered to herself, as the car started to approach the campsite. "Fuck me, this is a terrible idea." A hand traveled to her clenched stomach, feeling it heavy and turning into a knot the closer they were to the place.  

"Am I going the wrong way, ma'am?" The driver asked nervously, right after listening to her mumbles.

His voice made her suddenly remember she wasn't alone, causing her cheeks to turn a faint red in embarrassment. "No, no! The camp is right there, sorry."  

A sigh left her chest, she couldn’t back down, not anymore. She registered as a volunteer for the camp a while ago, and confirmed every single email asking if she was completely positive she was going to attend. The last one sent two days before her friendship with her professor, Ryan, went to hell. He was the one that told her about it, claiming that it would do wonders for her record when transferring to Colombia University. After all, the thing she wanted to become was a teen psychologist. Having a reference from a camp that focused on helping kids saved from abusive homes, was more than perfect for her record.  

_"I need to relax, there are going to be more volunteers I could become friends with."_  She thought, trying her best to calm down.  

Who was she kidding?  

It was going to be hell, there was no way she was going to be able to become friends with complete strangers in the spawn of four days. It took her a whole semester to feel confident enough to become friends with her own professor, and now, the idea of having to spend three whole days with him after their fight was nerve wrecking.  

"We’re here," his kind voice snapped her out of her thoughts once again. The young man stepped out of the taxi right away, opening the trunk to take her bags.

The (H/C) took a deep breath in once she was outside. It was past 7 a.m., a cool breeze went down her spine. She watched the driver leaving her bags close to the entrance, it seemed ridiculous to have a couple of feet of black metal fence across the beginning of the park. After thanking and paying the driver, she stood outside of the park, admiring the long green field, and the voluptuous trees around it. Her eyes quickly spotted the cabins in which everybody was going to stay, she prayed male and female volunteers would have separate ones.  

After giving herself a moment to try and find enough strength, she took her bags and walked towards the cabins. Each step felt heavy and stiff, she wasn't sure what to expect at all, since the decision of volunteering was based on the encouragement of her ex-friend, Ryan.  

The place seemed empty, and she was scared she might've been there on the wrong day. Thankfully, she bumped into another person when walking to one of the cabins. It was a tall, blonde woman, surely over her 50's, seemingly scribbling her life away in a pad, too focused on it to notice the younger girl approaching her.  

"Oh, hi!" The woman greeted her cheerfully right before bumping into her, placing the writing pad on her chest. "Are you (Y/N)?" She immediately asked, not giving the newcomer a single chance of introducing herself.

"Ye-yes. I am," the girl affirmed, extending her right hand for the other woman to shake. The thought of correcting the way she mispronounced her name didn't even crossed her mind.

"Nice to meet you, (Y/N)! I'm Margaret, the head camper and founder of this project," she took her hand on a firm grasp, shaking it happily. "Welcome to Camp Hope. I'm so glad you decided to volunteer, you're the youngest one among us!"

"Am I really?" (Y/N) gulped anxiously, following Margaret after motioning her to do so.  

"Yes, you're also the last one to arrive, we we're just waiting for you before the kids get here."  

The last statement made her feel a bit anxious, since she had noticed just a couple of cars parked outside the site camp.  _"Maybe they are all friends and decided to carpool,"_ yeah that was a good option. That thought made her  **even more**  nervous, if that was true then they were friends with Ryan, making her the outsider there.  

"Since there aren't a lot of us, all the volunteers will sleep on the same cabin. There's enough beds for all of us, come inside," Margaret hadn't stopped talking, surely she had said some more important things, but (Y/N) hadn't heard her at all.  

Upon entering the cabin, she spotted a group of people warmly chatting together, Ryan amongst them, confirming her theory that everybody already knew each other. She fought the urge of turning on her heels and running away, but all eyes were already on her, and she could feel herself shrink in front of them.  

"She's here, guys!" The blonde woman didn't help at all, making sure she was now the center of attention. "This is (Y/N). (Y/N), this is everybody," her voice died down as she inspected the people in the cabin, while everybody waved at the girl. "Where's Rafael?" she asked a bit annoyed, placing her hands on her hips.  

"Went to the cafeteria for coffee, you know how he is without his caffeine," another woman answered as she stood up to offer her hand to shake. This one seemed the same age as Margaret, but her short hair was chocolate brown, and was sitting on one of the beds next to a man with a soft and calm expression on his face, who also stood to introduce himself. "I'm Thelma, Thelma Landon. This is my husband, Kyle."  

The girl saluted them politely, the words  _nice to meet you_  barely leaving her lips.

"Come on, with or without caffeine, he's still unbearable," now it was one of the men who spoke up. This one was tall and seemed younger than the rest, maybe even (Y/N)'s age. He was blonde and tan, with a voluptuous beard adorning his face. "I'm Jack," a mischievous smile appeared on his lips, only waving his hand from where he stood.

(Y/N) tried her best to focus on them and their jokes rather than acknowledging the man who she knew was staring at her, acting as if he didn't exist at all. He stood next to the bed where Thelma sat, his wrinkled blue eyes staring at her bitterly. She hoped he wouldn't even think about saying hello.  

"Who is unbearable?" A new voice asked behind her, causing her to jump and turn immediately to see who it was coming from.  

The man was taller than her, had a head full of well combed brown hair, a cup of coffee held close to his lips, and a beyond annoyed look on his face. His piercing green eyes traveled from the other volunteers to her as he sipped his drink. In a matter of seconds his expression changed, pursing his lips into a smile when looking into her (E/C) eyes.  

"I'm Michelle," the last person to introduce herself snapped (Y/N) out of her trance with who most presumably was Rafael. Her blonde, almost white hair held high in a ponytail, and her soft smile filled her with calmness. "And, we weren't talking about you, Rafael. We were talking about _another_  annoying attorney with a caffeine addiction."  

All the volunteers laughed loudly at her joke, except for Rafael and (Y/N), who were looking into each other's eyes again. "I'm Rafael Barba, and you are?" He asked, completely ignoring everybody laughing at his expense, and reaching out for her hand.

"Nice to meet you, I'm (Y/N) (Y/LN)," she took his hand, swearing she felt a tinge of electricity running through her body the moment she did.  

"(Y/N)," her name rolled out of his tongue like a poem, it was the first time she heard someone pronounce it correctly on the first try. "Beautiful name." The man didn't let go of her, and kept squeezing softly her small hand. His formal introduction allowed her to contemplate him better, making her notice he was very well dressed compared to everybody else, one could even say he seemed almost overdressed. Did her knowledge of men's clothing was deceiving her, or was he wearing expensive sweatpants and shirts for a camp?  

A  _kid's_ camp, nonetheless.  

\---

"So, now that we all introduced ourselves to the newest member of this humble camp. I will now go over the rules of this year," Margaret's voice filled the cabin, which now seemed too big compared to the amount of people that were staying on it. "Now, while I know almost all of you already know how we do things in here, this is the first time we've rented such a beautiful place to stay in. I'm sure you already noticed the cafeteria," her eyes darted towards Rafael, who was now on his 3rd cup of coffee. "We have showers, bathrooms, and we also haveeee... drum roll please."

Rafael observed how everybody, except for him and the new girl, started slapping their legs enthusiastically, trying their best to imitate the special effect Margaret was asking for.

"Air Conditioning in all of the cabins!" She finished cheerfully, jumping excitedly on her own spot.

"I don't see why you all get so excited, we are still going to spend almost the entirety of the day outside, directly in the sun. Are we not?" The ADA spoke up for the first time since he introduced himself to the (H/C). And couldn't help but notice a soft smile painting across her delicate face.  

"Rafael, please," Michelle reacted almost immediately, frowning towards him. "At least pretend you're going to enjoy being here."

"Who said I'm not enjoying it already? I'm delighted," his sassy comment won a snicker from the youngest woman of the group.  This time he made sure she knew he'd noticed, by gifting her his cockiest smirk and a subtle wink.  

" **As I was saying,** " Margaret interrupted the exchange, trying to remain calm. "Given this is only our third year doing this camp, we haven't got a lot of exposure, hence the number of volunteers we have right now. We have almost forty kids coming this year, so we're going to have our hands a little full."

The green-eyed attorney grumbled as quietly as he was able to. Why was he doing this again? The man got limited holidays and yet here he was: wasting them. Spending an entire weekend with people he didn't liked, and kids. As much as he loved bringing justice  _to_  them, he didn't want to spend three days  _with_  them.  

He glanced towards the girl again, her presence was like a magnet; strong, inexplicable, attractive. Something weird fluttered inside his chest when he heard her giggle, apparently Margaret said something funny. But he did not care, the only thing in his mind was the need to listen to her laugh again.  

"Given our cabin is a bit far away from the one's the kids will be staying in, we will have night watch. And to make sure none of us falls asleep while doing so, we will do it in couples."

Suddenly, everything Margaret was saying became of utter importance to Rafael. And just before he was able to formulate a good argument to why the beautiful (H/C) and him had to be partners, (Y/N) was already shoving her hand into the bag Margaret had placed in front of her, making her pick a random piece of paper.  

He avoided a yet another grumble by drinking the rest of his coffee in a single shot, and sulk in his seat. Of course things had to be like this, she would probably get paired with  _young-good-looking_  Jack. She was probably in her thirties like him, they were the youngest after all. This was going to be such an unbearable wee-

"Rafael," her soft voice snapped him back from his soap opera moment.  

The counselor's green eyes turned directly towards her, noticing the little piece of paper in her hands with his name scribbled in it.

For the first time in the whole day, he sincerely smiled.

\---

The kids were restless.

Even when Margaret delegated five kids to each volunteer, it was way more than she bargained for. Since it wasn't the point of the camp to divide them into groups, but have them merge so they could have new friends, (Y/N) had to have her eyes everywhere so she wouldn't lose sight of the kids she was responsible for. Thankfully, they were beyond nice. They always asked for permission to speak up, calling her Ms. (Y/LN) every single time they talked to her.  

By the time the activities of the day were over, she could feel her whole body threatening to shut down, the sun was merciless upon her. Nothing a cold shower couldn't fix. So, while the rest of the volunteers chatted outside, and the first couple up for the night watch, Thelma and Kyle, guided the kids to their cabins, she made a bee-line towards theirs.

On her way to the cabin she worried her attitude might've not been cheerful enough compared to the rest of the other volunteer's. As much as she wanted to help, she felt awkward every time her eyes crossed with Ryan's angry ones, causing her to feel insecure. But then she thought of a certain someone, who's permanent scowl made her smile involuntarily whenever she looked towards him.  

She even could've sworn he smiled back at her a couple of times. (Y/N) dismissed that thought by betting it was most likely the hot weather messing with her head.  

Upon entering the seemingly empty cabin, her eyes immediately wandered to Rafael's bed. He was laying on it already, with his dirty and sweaty clothes from the day still on. One of his arms was across his eyes, covering from the artificial lighting of the cabin, while the other one rested on top of his chest, which raised rhythmically as he breathed. The (H/C) muffled a laugh, apparently, he had ran to lay down as soon as Margaret called it a day.

Trying her best to walk pass him without bothering, she silently opened her bag to gather her shower belongings. A smile appeared on her lips when she didn't wake him up, and just before she made it to the door on her way out, she noticed Kyle running towards it as well.  

"(Y/N), where's Margaret?" He asked, almost out of breath.  

The sound of the door opening so violently, and the strong voice caused Rafael to jump. He glared at the taller man for waking him from his slumber, but his face dropped when noticing the urgency in his voice.  

"I-I don't know, why? What happened?" She clenched her things close to her chest in a nervous reflex.

"One of the kids, Jimmy, started screaming and crying when we turned the lights from the cabin off. Thelma forgot to turn on the little lamps Margaret gave us beforehand," Kyle explained as quickly as he could, despite being already exhausted from the day and the running from cabin to cabin. "He stopped screaming, but we can't make him stop crying, he doesn’t want anybody to come close to him. We don't know what to do."

"He might be experiencing PTSD," (Y/N) suggested without thinking about it. She had seen similar cases in one of her many behavioral classes last semester. "I mean, these kids come from abusive homes," her voice started to die down. She wasn't a psychologist yet, she couldn't be making such assumptions.  

"She's right," Rafael supported her in a heartbeat. "People with PTSD could get triggered with small things like a sound, a sudden movement, a word, anything. I've seen it before with my clients," he was now standing next to her, nodding to show he was sure of what he said.  

"Right, I still need to find Margaret, Thelma stayed at the cabin with the kid to see what she could do." The tall man frowned, looking a bit overwhelmed.

"Go. I will try to help Thelma in any way that I can," the girl rushed outside with him, trying to give him some comfort.  

"I'll go with you," Rafael didn't wait for a response, already running alongside her.

Her heartbeat raised as they made their way to the place, she had no idea what to do. She was no expert, and had no license, but she would try her best to help whoever needed her. Which is why she pursued psychology in the first place.

"Thelma," she spotted the woman at the entrance of the room, a worried look in her eyes, and the crying kid curled up in a corner.  

The rest of the kids stayed on their beds, looking curiosly at the kid. Some of them stared nervously at him, while others looked to the adults, as if looking for comfort.

"I don't know what to do, help me," she begged.

Looking at the little kid in that situation broke (Y/N)'s heart. She pictured herself when she was 13, in that same position after her father passed away. And then again, a couple years ago, when his godfather did too. Without another word, she approached the kid without hesitating, searching his eyes as she walked slowly, looking for his approval that it was okay she came close.  

"(Y/N)," Rafael whispered her name, but remained quiet when she flicked her wrist towards him.  

"Honey?" She called the kid, who quickly darted his teary brown eyes to her. "Jimmy, what's the matter dear?" Her voice was soft and low, she didn't stop since he seemed entranced in her eyes.

"I'm scared of the dark, please don't make me be in it," his lip quivered as he stuttered his words, and he sniffed loudly.  

"I understand. Look, the lights are on, just for you." She now stood in front of him, a couple of feet away, and she kneeled to be at eye level with the kid.

He didn't respond, and instead kept weeping. It seemed like he was having difficulty breathing.  

"Jimmy, can I hold your hand?" She held hers barely in front of her, not wanting to scare him with an invading movement.

The little kid nodded, while hesitantly reaching out to her. "I-I... I," he stuttered once again, a feeling of anxiety overpowering his body.

"Look around you, dear. The lights are on, you're not in the darkness, you're with me." A soft smile appeared on her face, "and with your new friends," she added while rubbing his tiny hand.

Jimmy's eyes traveled around the room, finding the older kids smiling empathically at him. He inhaled heavily, nodding as he kept watching everybody else.  

"You're safe now," the (H/C) reassured him.  

Without giving her moment to react, Jimmy jumped into her arms, and sobbed when burying his head on the crook of her neck. The sudden moment surprised her, but she immediately held the boy against her, hugging him strongly enough to make him feel secure. She glanced towards the door, spotting Thelma and Rafael trying to keep Margaret and the rest of the group from bursting through it. They entered the place quietly, feeling a wave of relief when seeing the kid in her arms.  

Eventually, Jimmy stopped sobbing, and separated from the young woman. "I'm scared of the darkness," he repeated himself, more confidently than before.

"I know, honey. We have small lamps that we will leave on, so you can sleep peacefully. Is that okay?" Her hands brushed a couple strands of sweaty hair from his head.

"Yes, but... I can't go to sleep. My mommy sings to me when putting me in bed," he pouted, and she did her best to suppress a smile when feeling moved by his cute expression.

"Well, I will sing for you," she offered without thinking about it. A wave of regret overcame her when realizing all the volunteers were in the same room, staring at her.  

"You will? Thank you, Miss (Y/LN)!" The kid's enthusiasm and cheers from the rest of the people in the cabin gave her a bit of motivation.  

Just a bit.  

Once he tucked himself in, he glanced at her with cute, wide doe-eyes, eagerly waiting for her to start. She sighed heavily before giving him her best smile, despite the anxiety she was now facing. All the volunteers were staring at her as well. And, while Ryan's presence disturbed her, Rafael's green eyes and soothing expression allowed her to find calm.

" _Just a small-town girl, living in a lonely world. She took the midnight train going anywhere~_ " she closed her eyes, imagining she was alone. " _Just a city boy, born and raised in South Detroit. He took the midnight train going anywhere..._ " A glance towards a certain someone's warm, green eyes. She smiled. " _A singer in a smoky room, a smell of wine and cheap perfume. For a smile they can share the night. It goes on, and on and on, and on._ "  

" _Strangers waiting, up and down the boulevard. Their shadows searching in the night,_ " she continued the song confidently, remembering a time when the road trips with her family meant karaoke time for everybody. Blasting 70's and 80's music while they sang their hearts out.  

" _Don't stop believing, hold on to the feeling._ " Her brows perked when Jack and Michelle joined her for the last chorus, nodding excitedly. " _Streetlights people. Don't stop believing~_ " Everybody smiled warmly, and Jimmy curled up in a ball as he fell asleep with the widest smile in the whole room.  

A breath she didn't knew she was holding left her lips after the song came to an end, she tip-toed her way out of the cabin, with the rest of the volunteers.

The shower was now fair and necessary.

\---

Rafael spotted her as soon as she stepped out of the shower building, but gave her time to distance herself from it. He didn’t want to look like a complete pervert who had been lurking outside, waiting for her to get out just so he could have a moment with her. Which was true, but that didn’t mean he was a pervert.

"Hey," he reached her easily, walking slower once he was by her side.  

"Hey yourself," the girl greeted him immediately, wishing she could slap herself for such a lame response.

"Was the shower nice?" Now he was the one that wanted to slap himself, but he was better at hiding it.  

Thankfully, she giggled at his question. "Yeah, it was. Long day, I really needed it." She answered while drying her hair with a towel, shoving it all to a side, so she could see him into his eyes as they spoke.

He liked that, to him, it was a sign of confidence. "Tell me about it," he sighed heavily.

"Oh, I noticed it was long for you as well," the (H/C) mentioned, causing him to raise his brows in curiosity.

"How so?"  

"Well, I don't know if anybody has told you this already, but you have a very expressive face," she leaned close to him to explain, as if she was telling him a secret. The closeness caused him to breathe her scent in. She smelled like the rain.  

"I sure hope you're kidding," Rafael did his best to avoid passing his fingers through her wet hair, as much as he felt the need to. "I don't need the rest of the volunteers busting my ass about it."  

"You have enough with the kids doing so?" The girl giggled, and he thought he noticed her cheeks turning pink. Couldn't really tell with just the light from the moon.

A laugh left his lips, he felt a bit flattered she had been paying attention to him through the day. "Don't get me wrong, I don't hate kids. I'll do anything to keep them safe, which is actually part of my job," he explained himself, hoping she wouldn't think he was as heartless as their fellow volunteers claimed he was.

"And what is that job?" Her (E/C) eyes never left his, as they kept talking. (Y/N) seemed to show genuine interest, which curiously made his stomach flutter.  

"I'm the Assistant District Attorney of Manhattan, assigned to the Sex Crimes Bureau." He raised his chest unconsciously, taking large pride in his title. "I fight to make sure a lot of people, like the ones that cause little kid's like Jimmy to suffer from PTSD, are put away for good," he didn't mean to sound like he had some kind of super hero complex, but a part of him secretly wished to wow her.  

"Really? That's amazing," she assured, as a wide smile appeared on her face.  

"What you did back there was amazing," Rafael claimed. "You handled it perfectly."

"Thank you, I was really nervous but really wanted to help him."

"It went great," he placed one hand on her shoulder in a moment of boldness. "Had you dealt with situations like that before? Are you a psychologist?" Rafael quickly removed his hand, asking questions in an attempt to distract her from his sudden action. Perks of the job, after all.  

It dawned upon him he knew almost nothing about her, yet there he was: crushing like some dumb teenager.  

"Actually, I-" the sound of applause interrupted her as they entered the cabin, which caused both of them to glance towards the other. Rafael could tell she was as puzzled as he was.

"There she is!" Margaret approached her excitedly, and gave (Y/N) an awkward side hug. "You did great today, dear. We are all very proud of you," to Rafael's ears she sounded obnoxious.  

"Thanks," she barely whispered. The green-eyed man observed the girl squirming as she tried to distance herself from the head camper, but Margaret wouldn't let go of her. (Y/N)'s smile started to fade as every volunteer came closer to congratulate her and lean in for a hug. And it completely disappeared as the last two volunteers, Jack and Ryan, moved closer to do the same.  

"Well, I'm going to bed," the counselor suddenly raised his voice, hoping to make everybody stop cold. There was something about the whole situation that made him feel as if she wasn't entirely comfortable with it. Something he internally confirmed, since (Y/N) took advantage of his sudden interruption to take large steps towards her own bed.  

"Me too, long day tomorrow. Thank you, everybody," she said as quickly, and politely as she could. Before tucking herself in, she looked for Rafael's eyes, mouthing a  _thanks_  after green met (E/C).  

"See you in a couple hours," he muttered from his adjacent bed, as he watched her close her eyes and drift to sleep.

\---

"(Y/N)," a voice she hoped not having to hear snatched her away from her dreams. She fought the urge of screaming when finding Ryan standing close to her bed in the dark. Thankfully, her brain quickly remembered where she was, and the fact that Ryan and Margaret's night watch was before hers with Rafael. "It's 1 a.m., your turn." The white-haired man explained in a whisper, watching her scared expression.  

"Yes, I know." She incorporated quietly, turning to Rafael's bed and finding it empty after her eyes adjusted to the darkness.

"He's already out," Ryan mentioned when he saw her action. "Margaret was with him, explaining him what to do. They are close to the kids' cabins," The tone in his voice seemed shy, and awkward, like they were strangers. The (H/C) decided to ignore him, as she tied her tennis shoes to leave as soon as possible. 

"(Y/N)," he called her name once again when she reached for the knob. She stood in place, without turning to see him. "Good job today. It was-"

"Yeah, thanks." She interrupted him before he could continue. Her brain was still half asleep, she wasn't going to let him take advantage of her grey moment.

The fresh air of the night embraced her right away, making her shiver and hug herself. The thought of going for a jacket wasn't an option, she didn't wanted to go back to the cabin anymore. She ran into Margaret as she made her way to their cabin, and nodded as the passed next to the other. But couldn't find Rafael right away. A heavy sigh left her chest, and decided not to move from her spot to see if he found her first.

Just a couple of minutes later, faint, grassy footsteps approached her. Her lips immediately curled up into a smile as she watched Rafael coming closer, a cup of coffee in each hand.

"Good morning," he greeted her as nicely as he could, his tiredness was present in his heavy voice, and the bags underneath his dark green eyes. "There was only enough coffee for two cups, so if you want some you have to go and make it," he mentioned as he sipped his coffee and held the second cup close to him.  

The young woman laughed as quietly as she could, since the deadpan expression he held while talking was beyond hilarious. "I don't know why you're laughing, I'm not kidding," he assured, failing to repress the smile that was now slowly pulling his lips.

"Thank you," she smiled as he finally gave her the other cup. "Although, I don't know how are you going to manage with just one cup."  

"Me neither," he snickered. "But, since I'm finishing mine before you, I could simply steal yours." His white smile was almost distracting. It was beyond attractive to her.

"I'd like to see you try." Her playful comment made him raise his eyebrows as a response.  

A peaceful silence made its way between them, something that for most it would've been uncomfortable, but not for her. The bewitching light from the moon, and the faint sound of nature gave her a feeling of comfort she longed for since a while ago. Never thought she could've find it there: past midnight, next to an, almost, perfect stranger. (Y/N) didn't felt chilly anymore, the heat from her beverage and the warmth spreading through her while standing next to Rafael, were comforting enough. After deeply inhaling the fresh hair around them, she turned her eyes towards Rafael, finding him with a particular expression across his features.  

"Is everything okay?" She asked curiously, after debating whether she should interrupt his thoughts or not.

He quickly turned to look at her, the sudden question caused his expression to turn into a surprised one. "Yes, I was just..." He hesitated to continue, licking his lips before doing so. "(Y/N), can I ask you something?"  

"Go ahead, counselor." She felt her heart rate increase when he said her name, it sounded so different from when other people did.

"Well, earlier when we were in the cabin, and everybody gathered to hug you. I couldn't help but notice you being a bit," his voice died down as he seemed to look for an appropiate word, "uncomfortable. Did you disliked that gesture from everybody, or am I wrong?"  

(Y/N) nodded softly right away, biting her lower lip before responding. "You're not wrong," she began to explain, a faint tone of embarrassment present in her voice. "It wasn't really a nice feeling to have strangers invade my personal space without asking, or something." The (H/C) sighed, feeling a bit silly saying that out loud. "I mean, it's not like everybody goes around asking if they can hug you. It's dumb, but-"

"It's not dumb at all," Rafael asserted., a serious expression painted in his eyes. "You can ask people to not coming near you, if you want to. Whatever makes you uncomfortable, you have all the right to say no." He relaxed as he finished explaining. "And that's something that I learned even before working sex crimes for 3 years now."  

Her (E/C) eyes lowered to her cup of coffee, feeling relief travel through her body. She thanked deep inside to have someone understanding to spend time with. "Is that why you interrupted everybody to announce you were going to bed?" He answered by simply nodding, giving her a tender smile. "Thank you, really. For noticing and doing something about it, it meant a lot."  

"You can show your thanks by giving me your coffee," he joked after a small pause, shaking the now empty cup in his hand.

The (H/C) laughed as she handed him her coffee, their fingers brushed when he took it. She felt the same electric wave through her like the one that morning when they introduced, and another one later when he placed his hand on her shoulder. Despite the fact she only knew him a bit better than the other volunteers, there was one thing she felt sure about:

Having him invade her space, did not bothered her one bit.


	2. Part II

"Wake up, sleepy head~" she softly sang, sitting on the bed next to his.  

She received a deep groan as an answer, and the man on the bed buried his head deeper in the pillow. After staying still for a moment, he finally moved his head just enough to be able to open one eye and look at her. "Is it Sunday yet?" His waking up voice was deep and hoarse, which made her smile widely. 

"I'm afraid it's barely Saturday. Two more days to go, counselor," she said in an apologetic tone, while handing him a cup of freshly brewed coffee. "Margaret and Michelle are waking up the kids, if you stand up now we can make it to the cafeteria before them." 

Without giving her a chance to say more, he incorporated almost immediately, taking a big sip of his coffee. "Let me splash my face and brush my teeth real quick, go fetch us a spot at the cafeteria." He almost ordered, to which she answered by raising her hand up to her forehead.  

"Yessir," she said in a deep, made-up voice. 

It was already painting to be a better day. 

\--- 

Rafael tiredly sat next to her, with yet another cup of coffee on his food tray. "You know, you took a while choosing what to eat to settle for some toast and an apple," he mentioned when observing her almost empty plate.   

The (H/C) raised a single brow, dramatically putting a hand over her chest. "Well, you took longer than I did, yet you don’t see me judging you about it," her argument was weak, given Rafael had a more decent amount of food on his.  

"I was trying to see if any of the cooks had any kind of liquor I could get my hands on so I can make it through the day," he explained, diving into his food the very next moment.  

"Rafael, this is a kid's camp," she jokingly scolded him.  

"Excuse me, I wasn't going to offer it to the kids. I'm not a complete monster, I'd have to prosecute myself." He laughed, and she realized there was something sultry about the way he laughed. His smile always started to become more present in one side of his lips than the other, and the sound of his laughter was warm, like it came from his heart instead of his lungs. 

"Alright everybody! For today's schedule, we have a ton of group activities," Margaret's voice overpowered everybody else's as they ate their breakfast, also interrupting (Y/N)'s thoughts about the green-eyed attorney's laughter. "After breakfast, you will be expected to meet with your assigned camp volunteer outside at the space next to the volleyball camps!" 

Both Rafael and (Y/N) groaned, winning a couple of glares from the other volunteers, who were seating at another table. She mouthed a  _sorry_ , trying her best to repress the smile that tried to creep through her face. Unlike her companion, who had his biggest smirk on, while completely ignoring the rest of them. 

"The new girl seems get along with Rafael," Thelma mentioned, poking a strawberry with her fork while her blue eyes wandered towards Ryan. 

"Yeah, as if she was into old dudes," Jack retorted, shooting a smile to the (H/C). "Is just because they have their night watch together, she just needs to get to know me better." 

"Right," Kyle said, a heavy sarcastic tone in his voice. "Because no woman can resist you, Don Jon." 

Everybody at their table laughed, except for Ryan who seemed more interested in trying to listen to Rafael and (Y/N)'s conversation instead of the one going on at his table. He sulked in his seat as he watched how she leaned in closer to listen at what the attorney had to say, realizing she never did that when he talked to her. 

"Regardless, the guy is like 20 years older than her. She's what? In her mid-twenties? That's like a 20 year age-gap right there." The bearded man tried to defend the girl, while trying to convince everybody that he had better chances than the arrogant ADA. "I'm thirty, only a couple of years older. Give me a moment with the girl and you'll see she's not into him," he assured, smiling smugly at everybody. 

"Is that a bet I'm smelling?" The bigger man asked, leaning in towards Jack. 

"If you're not afraid to lose," he teased. 

"Stop it, don't make bets about her," Ryan spoke up after being in silence for a long time, furiously glaring at them. 

"He's right, guys. She's a kid compared to us, and whether she likes Rafael or not, is none of our business. This is not what we came here to do, please behave," Michelle scolded them as she took her empty dishes, leaving the table to talk to Margaret. 

"Sorry, Ryan. We forgot," Kyle simply said.  

Under the table, he shook hands with Jack.  

\--- 

If there was one thing (Y/N) hated more than people invading her personal space, it was the summer. The sun was unbearable that day, even more than the day before. The closest shade she could shelter herself underneath, was from the trees that were too far from the place where the kids were playing to watch them from over there. Obliging her, and the rest of the volunteers, to stay below the burning sunlight.  

Sticky, salty drops of sweat transpired from her forehead, and some other more inconvenient body parts, as she drank water bottle after water bottle. A better breakfast would've been the right choice, but it was way too late now to think about that. Instead of silently complaining about her current situation, she did her best to focus on the kids. When that failed, she turned her attention towards a certain green-eyed man. He seemed to be having a hard time as well, and it showed in his sweaty frown.  

Suddenly, he turned looking for her, or at least that's what it seemed because he stopped as soon as he met her eyes, a bright smile substituting his sour expression. "Shoot me," he mouthed, causing her to break into a laugh.  

"Hey, want more water?" She jumped in surprise when listening to someone so close to her all of a sudden. Her big, (E/C) eyes went wide when she saw Jack handing her a bottle of water. His wide smile shining brightly at her.  

"Sure... thanks." (Y/N) said shyly, carefully taking the bottle, trying to avoid any type of physical contact with him.  

Silence crept upon them, this one was tense and awkward. She glanced to anywhere else away from his direction, drinking the water bottle as quickly as she could. Her lungs felt heavy on her chest, and it burned every time she breathed in, the cold water gave her a momentary relief. The one thing the water didn't helped with, was the throbbing headache she was experiencing. 

"Woah, at the rate you're going, you're gonna leave us without anything to drink," he joked, coming closer to her.  

A tight smile was all she gave him, unconsciously taking a couple of steps away from him. He seemed friendly, but she wasn't really in the mood to speak. She felt as if she will dehydrate if she did anything else but standing and breathing. Putting that aside, there was something weird in the air. Her (E/C) eyes wandered once again, finding Kyle staring right back at her. (Y/N) raised her brows, expecting him to turn away, to which he responded by waving carelessly. 

Jack's face fell, and bit his lip while he seemed to think what else to say. "That was a joke," he explained with a shy smile. 

"I know, sorry." She finally felt forced to talk, apparently that's what he wanted. "Is just... the sun, you know?" The words left her mouth in a whisper, while taking hand behind her neck to move away a couple of strands of sweaty hair. 

"Oh, I know. It's terrible," he smiled, pleased that the door for conversation was open. "But I've had worse." 

"You have?" The (H/C) asked without a lot of interest, just to be polite.  

"Yea, whenever I go hiking and such. There's a certain amount of water I can carry, so I really have to suck it up," he crossed his arms across his chest, raising it to show his pectorals. "I have some pictures on my phone, wanna see?"  

The girl nodded hesitantly, she had to try and make friends sooner or later. But when she took a step towards him, she felt her leg unresponsive. Causing her to stumble, taking Jack's arm as leverage to avoid a fall. 

"Easy there!" He frowned, feeling her dead weight for a second. "Are you okay?"  

"I-I'm..." She stuttered. 

"(Y/N)?" A familiar voice approached, sounding concerned. Her eyelids became surprisingly heavy all of a sudden, everything was going dark. 

\--- 

Rafael was a composed man, who knew exactly when and how to intervene when something didn't fit. After all, that was one of the best qualities one could have in his field of work. A good example was the way he intervened the night before, when he observed a shy girl trying to find her way out of an uncomfortable situation. When he got to know her a little better during their night watch together, he understood she had issues with people as careless (and invasive) as their fellow volunteers. It ended with her promising she will do her best to be more assertive. So, when a certain scene started to develop a couple of feet away from him, he did his best to remain successfully composed. 

At first, at least... 

He'd watched Jack approach, and the way she tried to avoid conversation with him.    
He trusted she could deal with it, if she wanted to. 

He'd watched her take distance as subtle as possible, while still looking polite and relaxed.    
She could handle herself. 

But what really make him throw his composure out the window, was when he saw her struggle to remain on her feet, clenching onto Jack's arms to stay up. Without giving it a second thought, he jogged directly towards her, calling her name in hopes she would respond. She didn't. And, thankfully, he arrived just in time to catch her in his arms, just as she plummeted next to the bearded man, who apparently didn't know how to react.  

"Help!" He yelled, carefully placing her on the ground, her head on his lap. 

The next moment, Ryan was already there, with a look of concern Rafael had never seen before in his face, causing him to frown in a moment of pure curiosity. He seemed more worried than anybody else, which was weird since he didn't seem to know her. Those thoughts flew away as easy as they entered his mind, since all the volunteers where already around her, asking what had happened. 

"She was complaining about the sun, the-the heat," Jack quickly recalled, seemingly embarrassed for not catching her before Rafael.  

"She only had toast and an apple for breakfast," Rafael added, brushing her hair out of her face. Despite feeling a pit at the bottom of his stomach, he had to remain calm, in order to help as much as he could. 

"Did you know if she had a headache, perhaps?" Michelle asked, putting her head on her forehead to feel her body warmth. "She's burning, poor thing, is most likely heat exhaustion." The woman placed a comforting hand on Rafael's shoulder, "(Y/N) will be okay, it's a good thing she was drinking all that water," she explained, trying to calm him down with her sweet smile. "Jack, will you carry her over to those trees over there? The girl could use some shade."  

"I'll do it," the ADA spoke up before anybody else could touch her, quickly taking the (H/C) in his arms, bridal style.  

"Okay, then..." Nobody debated with him, since he was already ahead of everybody, walking to the trees. "We need some water, a cold compress and something she can lay her head on. She'll wake up on her own, just needs to hydrate a little better," the head camper explained as she watched Rafael leave with the girl. Jack and Michelle were the only ones who immediately ran to grab what she asked for, in order to take it to the attorney. 

"Seems like Rafael has her," Thelma mentioned in a sigh, trying to calm herself from the scare.  

"Yes, he does." Her husband whispered, rubbing her back soothingly as they made their way back to take care of the kids. 

\--- 

Silence. 

Peaceful silence, all around. Yet there were sounds, soothing ones. Was it a bird singing? It was far, too far to tell. But she could hear people too, they were laughing, playing. Kids, they were kids. Everything felt okay, right, calm. She could hear herself breathing, and the beating of her heart. It was a good sound, she liked it.  

Her forehead felt cool, it was nice. Something dripped, it was falling on her eyes. Was it raining? The dripping stopped, and someone dried her eyes with a towel. The sudden contact made her crunch her nose. Her eyelids felt heavy, the girl fought to open her eyes with all the strength she could gather. When she managed to do it, she found herself beneath a tree, the thick foliage didn't allow a lot of sunrays to shine through.  

(Y/N) tilted her head to the side, finding someone sitting by. Once her (E/C) eyes adjusted to the light, she recognized Rafael looking afar, his face holding a deep frown. 

"Hey...." The words slurred from her dry mouth, realizing she needed to drink water.  

His green eyes darted to her in less than a second, while his concerned face turned into a relieved, almost happy, one. "Hey yourself," his voice was heavy, as if he had been holding his breath in. "Welcome back to life, you scared me." He was surprisingly straightforward, helping her remember what had happened and where she was. 

"I'm-," the (H/C) tried to stand, using her elbows as leverage, but her body still felt too heavy.  

Rafael put a hand on her back, helping her to sit next to him. "Take it easy, okay? You want some water?" His voice was low and concerned, sweet; like music to her ears.  

"How long was I out?" She finally was able to ask, after drinking from the bottle he'd gave her. Without thinking about it, (Y/N) leaned against him, closing her eyes while her cheek absorbed the heat from his arm. 

"A-a while, you.... you should've said something if you weren't feeling alright. You made me really worried," he stuttered, stressing his last words. "You should've eaten better in the morning," Rafael cleared his throat, nervously fidgeting with the towel in his hands. 

"I'm sorry," she sighed. "I'm not used to eating that early in the morning," she explained, embarrassed that she was going to have to complain about how difficult it was to have healthy meal hours when juggling two jobs and college. 

"Uh-uh, no excuses. It's almost time for lunch, so  _we_  are going to the cafeteria and  _I'm_  gonna pick what you're going to eat. And then, you're gonna rest and have plenty of fluids so  _you_  don't pass out on me anymore. Are we clear?" He tried to sound as serious as he could. 

"Yessir." She separated from him, now resting her head on her knees so she could look at him properly. The light made his eyes look a deep green, greener than the leaves above them or the grass on the ground. (Y/N) smiled, feeling something flutter in her stomach. "Thank you," she whispered. 

\--- 

"Give me a moment, I'll be right outside," the (H/C) said, drying her hair with a towel as quickly as she could. 

"Outside of where?" Margaret's brow quirked, interrupting her own conversation with Rafael.  

"Uh... you know. Out. For the night watch?" She muttered, wondering what was wrong with what she'd said. 

"Nope, you're not going anywhere. You're going to stay and rest," Rafael spoke up, his brows furrowed. 

Her hands fell on her lap as she sat on the edge of her bed, a confused look on her face. "But... but you moved our turn to be the first one, because of what happened, right?" She asked Margaret, hoping to get some support from the older woman. 

"That doesn’t mean you're going, they moved our turn so I wouldn't fall asleep at 1 a.m. Because I'm doing it alone, ¿entiendes?" the ADA explained. 

"I can still do it, it's only a couple of hours. Even if I don't go, I'm still gonna be up, we are all going to be," she protested, pouting her lips like a kid. 

"He's right, honey. We were all very worried about you, can't afford that happening to you again, so you rest." Margaret declared, seemingly putting an end to the conversation, walking away from the couple. 

"But–" 

"I believe the words you're looking for are: _thank you_." Rafael interrupted before she could say anything else, softly bumping the top of her nose with his finger, and making his way outside of the cabin while giving her a sweet smile.  

(Y/N) remained seated at the edge of her bed as she watched him go, placing her fingers over her nose, in an attempt to cover up her burning, red cheeks. She bit her lower lip, trying to repress the smile that was pulling her lips. A shiver ran down her spine, causing her to look to the side, finding Ryan shamelessly staring at her. She decided to ignore him, climbing up to bed and pulling out her phone and headphones. It was like her personal shield, hoping that anybody that saw her with the headphones would leave her alone. 

After a moment of scrolling through her social media accounts, a message popped up, from one of her friends: 

 **_Daniel:_ ** _hey_ _sugarcurls_ _, how's camp_ _goin_ _?_  

 **_Me:_ ** _hey_ _D_ _anny, it's going. Passed out today because of the heat_  

 **_Daniel:_ **_already? t_ _hat's a new record, you better take care of yourself_  

 **_Daniel:_ ** _you're not at work or school with AC 24/7, you know?_  

 **_Me:_ ** _I know, I know. One of the volunteers is taking care of me, he's really sweet_  

 **_Daniel:_ ** _he?_  

 **_Daniel:_ ** _i_ _nteresting,_ _tell me about him_  

 **_Me:_ ** _don't go there, is not like that_  

 **_Daniel:_ ** _"not like that" what?_  

 **_Me:_ ** _you said "interesting", you know what_ _what_  

 **_Daniel:_ ** _I have no idea what you mean...._  

 **_Daniel:_ ** _but now that you got your panties in a bunch, tell me how it is then_  

She pressed the phone against her forehead, knowing she had made a mistake by bringing Rafael up to the conversation. 

 **_Me:_ ** _I just made a friend, that's it_  

 **_Daniel_ ** **_:_ **_really? h_ _ow does Ryan feel about that?_  

 **_Me:_ ** _please, like I care_  

 **_Me:_ ** _we don't talk at all, he just stares from afar_  

Her (E/C) eyes wandered from the phone to Ryan's bed, who was now talking to Kyle about God knows what. 

 **_Daniel:_ ** _wow creep alert_  

 **_Me:_ ** _right_  

 **_Daniel:_ ** _so, this friend_  

 **_Me:_ ** _ffs_ _D_ a _nny_  

 **_Daniel:_ ** _I'm just asking!_  

 **_Daniel_ ** **_:_ ** _I'm your friend and I feel relieved that you aren't completely uncomfortable_  

The girl fidgeted with the phone on her hands, wondering if she should talk about it. It wasn't a big deal, he was just nice, no point in acting all flustered. 

 **_Me:_ ** _his name is Rafael_  

 **_Me:_ ** _he's the ADA of new_ _york_ _, big lawyer_  

The three dots that signaled her friend was texting back made her oddly nervous, for he had started to reply faster than usual. 

 **_Daniel:_ ** _wait, ADA Rafael Barba?_  

 **_Me:_ ** _uh, yea_  

 **_Me:_ ** _you know_ _his last name_ _, how?_  

She frowned, anxiously waiting for her friend to respond. 

 **_Daniel:_ ** _(Y/N)_ _, Tony has attended most of his cases in court_  

 **_Daniel:_ ** _the guy is a beast, almost never loses a case_  

 **_Daniel:_ ** _google him, you'll see what a big of a deal he is_  

 **_Me:_ ** _Tony_ _?_ _really?_  

 **_Me:_ ** _I thought he was aiming to work for Buchannan_  

 **_Daniel:_ ** _Buchannan's an ass, Barba has the upper hand on him most of the time_  

 **_Daniel:_ ** _you know how ambitious Tony can be, fell in love with Barba the first time he saw him work_  

 **_Daniel:_ ** _it was_ _that_ _rape case_ _where the rapist choked the_ _prosecuting_ _attorney with a belt_  

 **_Me:_ ** _no way, that was_ _Rafael?_  

 **_Daniel:_ ** _yea dude_  

 **_Daniel:_ ** _lucky you, he's into some kinky shit_  

 **_Me:_ ** _shut up,_ _stupid_  

The (H/C) didn’t waste another second, quickly typing Rafael's name on the search engine. The very next moment, a handful of news articles popped up. As she started clicking on them, she encountered various pictures of Rafael outside the courtroom, giving statements about how he aimed to bring justice.  

 **ADA Rafael Barba Charges Homosexual Rapist with Hate Crime**  

She raised her brows, was that even possible?    
It was, he'd even won that case. 

 **_"Whether you're a john in the South Bronx or a three-million-dollar-a-year talk show host... no means no_** ** _."_** **S** **tates Assistant District Attorney Rafael Barba**  

Yet another smile appeared on her lips, he was more amazing than she thought. And, as she kept reading articles about him, she felt that weird flutter on her belly once again. Realization dawned upon her, after she stared at a picture of him a little longer than what was considered normal. 

Could it be possible to crush so bad on someone that she'd met  _two_  days ago?  

Rafael was charming, and she couldn't avoid denying it anymore. The very next second, she felt silly. Why would a mature, educated, and successful man like Rafael even dare to turn and look her way? He was just being nice, he worked with the Special Victims Unit, being that nice and comprehensive was most likely part of his job. There was no way in hell he'd be interested in a simple, twenty-something, broke, college student. 

A deep sigh left her chest, and she leaned on the wall where the side of her bed was against to.  _"You_   _should be thankful enough he made your volunteering more pleasant, you're not a child._ _Compose_ _yourself,_ _"_ she mentally scolded herself, reading through more of his cases featured on the news.  

"Hey," she jumped on her seat, while her eyes snapped from her phone to the man standing in front of her. She held the device close to her chest, quickly closing all the tabs in the mobile browser, a fast glance to the clock made her eyes go wide; she had spent almost two hours talking and reading about Rafael.  

"Hey," she saluted him nervously, smiling back at the green-eyed attorney who stood at the edge of her bed. 

"Do you mind?" He asked, signaling to the free space on her bed. The girl quickly nodded in response, scooting over to the side a little more, so he could take a seat next to her.  

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" He frowned, once he was comfortably sitting by her side. Rafael pulled out his phone, and started checking his texts and emails of the day. 

"I said I was going to be up anyways, but you didn’t let me go with you," she pouted, trying to act as cool as possible with him being so close.  

He smiled widely at her, shaking his head while diligently typing and responding his texts. (Y/N) watched how his smile turned into a frown, presumably getting more and more concentrated. After clearing all his texts, he reached to the other side of her face, and she felt herself holding her breath when having his hand barely caressing her skin, gently removing one of her headphones. "Can I?" He asked, taking it up towards his ear. 

"Of course, if you want to hear shitty music." He laughed, still putting the headphone on. 

They shared a moment of silence, listening to the music that she played on her phone, most of them being 80's rock classics. He pictured (Y/N) with messy hair and makeup, wearing a leather jacket, singing at the top of her lungs at some club. Rafael found himself smiling at the picture, despite the tedious emails he was responding at the moment. 

Suddenly, the next song that played made her grunt, catching his attention. "Oh, my God. No, not that one!" She exclaimed, the phone fell from her hands as she attempted to change the song. 

He laughed loudly at her reaction, reaching for the phone. "What are you talking about?" He kept laughing, and teasing, successfully taking the device and holding it away from her, careful enough so they both kept their headphone on. 

"It's so embarrassing, don't make fun of me." The pout, it appeared once again on her pink lips, causing him to bit his lower one in response.  

"I am not, I love this song. Bruce Springfield is one of the best," he stated, fighting the sudden urge of placing a hand on her cheek to caress her full lips with his thumb. "And this is his best song, in my own opinion." He gave her the phone back, moving his head along to the rhythm of  _Jessie's Girl_.  

"It's one of my favorites too," she muttered, her cheeks glowing red at the interaction between them. 

Another peaceful silence became present, allowing him to concentrate in his work once again. The girl concentrated on her own stuff as well, texting back her friends and parents, to let them know she was okay. "I googled you," she shyly mentioned in a whisper, causing him to interrupt his typing to look at her. 

"You did? Why look me up on the web instead of asking me things directly?" He teased, wishing to see her cheeks lighting up again. 

"Well, I was talking to a friend. Turns out one of our close friends aims to work for you some day, he's a lawyer too," she quickly explained, staring at her phone screen, attempting to not look into his eyes.  

His brow quirked, if she had lawyer friends, it meant she was older than she seemed, but he was way too polite to ask her age, maybe  _he_  should google _her_  too. "Really? Is he good?" 

"He's very dedicated, graduated top of his class at Columbia." The (H/C) felt proud about her friend, for he had been offered a great internship at the young age of 26, and was still busting his ass to work for the best of the best: ADA Rafael Barba. 

"If you give me his contact information I could arrange a meeting to him, see what he has to offer," Rafael offered, something he wouldn't usually do. But he really wanted an excuse to meet her after the camp was over. 

"Nah, if he's good he'll make it eventually." She replied in an instant. 

The green-eyed laughed at her lack of hesitation, "you're cold, he's your friend! I'm willing to give him a chance, since you talk so proudly of him."  

"I know, but I know him. He would rather catch your attention by his own merits than by some favor," she explained. "Which I appreciate very much, it's sweet that you consider giving him a chance just because I say he's good." (Y/N) gifted him a bright smile, amazed by how nice he was. 

"Si tú dices. Still, offer is on the table if you ever change your mind." With that, their conversation was over, and they shared a couple more songs before finally going to bed. 

\--- 

"Now who's the sleepy head?" The sound of his voice made her smile as soon as she woke up, she stretched like a cat before turning her head to meet those green eyes that entranced her so much. 

Her (E/C) eyes opened widely, when noticing he held a plate of food in one hand, and a cup of coffee on the other. She briefly looked around the cabin, realizing it was only the two of them at the place. "Where is everybody else?" Her voice was raspy right after waking up, he made a mental note of that.  

"At the cafeteria, eating breakfast. Margaret told everybody to let you rest, and asked me to make sure you eat correctly," he lied, since the head camper had only asked the rest of the volunteers to let her sleep, while he had decided to take her breakfast to bed. 

"Oh, wow. That's really thoughtful," she blushed, sitting on bed and taking the plate he'd brought her. "Are you joining me?" She shyly asked, rubbing her eyes to wake up a little better. 

"Of course." He raised a cup of coffee to his lips, showing her the plate on top of his bed.  

"Is that your 5th cup?" She teased, as she started to dig into the food. 

"Please," he snarled. "It's the 12th one," he declared, pretending to be deeply offended. 

She smiled as she cheerfully chewed the food in front of her, but it quickly faded when she realized it was Sunday already. "Today is the last day," she mentioned, after swallowing her bite. "Are you excited that this is over?" 

Rafael raised his eyes from his food to her, noticing her eyes dropped to her plate, refusing to look up at him. "I am," he said, but before he could continue and say how he wasn't because he still wanted to see her, Michelle entered the cabin abruptly.  

"Hey guys, we're filling the balloons for the kids to play for their last activity today. Please hurry up and come help us," she politely requested, and (Y/N) swore the woman could tell her to fuck off and it would still sound polite.  

"Si, we're going," he replied, immediately losing the confidence he'd gathered to try and flirt with the (H/C) once again. 

\--- 

The rest of the day advanced peacefully, since they had taken the kids to play by the lake, figuring it was the best way for them to spend the last day of their camp.  

"What do you have in that bag?" She eyed it curiously, as they walked to the lake while carrying a large box filled with water balloons.  

"A towel and a dry shirt. Just in case," he replied, carefully placing the box on the ground. 

"Damn, why didn't I think of that?" She bit her lower lip, wondering if it would be ideal for her to go all the way back to the cabin to grab a towel and some clothes. 

"At least you wore a black shirt." Rafael laughed, as the kids approached them to start grabbing the balloons and hitting each other with them. 

They watched the kids cheerfully playing, while they sat on the grass beneath the trees next to the rest of the volunteers. This time, they took turns in the designated couples to make sure the kids played and swam safely, since they were free to go at any given time, they weren't a lot of kids around anymore. (Y/N) and Rafael chatted about everything and nothing at all, it felt so natural to talk with each other. They were both enjoying their last moments together, despite the other volunteers glancing and making quiet comments about them.  

"(Y/N), Rafael, you're next." Thelma interrupted their conversation, tiredly plummeting on the floor next to her husband. 

The couple quickly stood up, continuing their conversation while walking closer to the kids, it was amazing to not run out of things to talk about. But that had to stop since they had to focus on keeping the kids' safe, limiting themselves to share knowingly looks when taking care of them. 

"Miss (Y/LN), come play with us!" One of the little girls requested, grabbing the (H/C) by the arm and forcing her to follow her to where her group of friends were.  

"No, Ms. (Y/LN), come with  _us_!" Jimmy popped out of nowhere, pulling on her tank top to the opposite side of the lake.  

"Kids, wait. I can play with both, just –" 

"No, Jimmy. She's playing with us," the girl ignored her, pulling her arm even harder.  

"No, us!" Jimmy yelled, not willing to let go of her either. 

"Kids, please." (Y/N) begged, trying to pull her shirt up, since the boy was carelessly pulling it down in his attempt to take her away.  

As soon as he noticed the situation she was in, the green-eyed man approached the trio, mentally figuring out how to save her from it. But before he could make it, the inevitable happened. Being too busy fighting to notice, the little boy pulled her shirt so hard the fabric couldn't take it anymore. A hot blush burned Rafael's cheeks as he watched the ripped tank top slide from her body as the kid fell on his back, gripping the teared fabric in his hands.  

The kids around her gasped, some of them looking away, most of them staring. She couldn't think of anything else to do, but covering her torso with her arms, falling to her knees to cover even more. It was the most embarrassing thing that had happened to her, and there was no way she could think of a dignifying way of walking up to the cabin and pretend it never happened.  

She suddenly felt something covering her, and opened her teary eyes to find Rafael placing his spare shirt on top of her. "Nada que ver aqui, on to your business," he scolded them, helping her stand up and walking her back to the trees.  

"Thank you, Rafael," she sobbed, for a couple of rouge tears had escaped her shiny (E/C) eyes. 

"Put the shirt on," he ordered, once they approached the rest of the volunteers, not even daring to look at her, in an attempt to spare her from more embarrassment.  

"Come, dear." Michelle immediately covered her, taking her behind a tree large enough for her to change without anybody else looking. 

The (H/C) swallowed back a couple more of embarrassment tears, examining the shirt he'd given her. It was deep red, the word  _Harvard_ written in bold white letters. She raised her brows in amusement, not really that surprised he was a Harvard graduate.  

When she rejoined the group, she noticed everybody avoiding eye contact with her, remaining in silence. Which she was thankful for, but it still made her feel flustered. The only ones warmly smiling to her were, of course, Michelle and Rafael. 

"Ms. (Y/LN)," Jimmy's shy voice made her jump, but she smiled at him when realizing he was just as embarrassed as she was. "I'm so sorry about your shirt, I was very rude pulling you like that," his voice seemed to crack, and his wide blue eyes filled with tears.  

(Y/N) fell to her knees to meet his eyes, the smile not leaving her face. "It's okay, honey. I'm fine, Mr. Barba was kind enough to lend me his shirt," her voice was sweet and calm, making an enormous effort to leave her embarrassment behind. "It's all alright, just be more careful. Okay?" She took his face in her hands, and rubbed his cheeks with her thumbs, wiping away the little tears that escaped his eyes.  

The kid left, a bit happier than before. "I should go, before a dog pees on me," she suggested, trying to lighten up the mood with the joke. 

"Yes, don't worry about it," Margaret stood up while, thankfully, they all laughed at her joke. "There's just a couple more kids to go, we can handle it with one less." The woman gave her a hug, to which she responded more naturally than she would've the first day of camp. "Thank you so much for joining us this year, and please keep in contact, we will love to have you back next year." 

"Of course, it was lovely," she agreed, turning to look at the rest of the volunteers. "I'll pick my stuff up and will be right back to say goodbye, guys." She explained, walking towards the cabin. "Coming?" (Y/N) asked Rafael, hoping to get one last moment alone with him. 

He simply nodded, walking silently by her side to the way back to the cabin. The ADA was trying his best to repress the blush that was present on his face, it wasn't the first time he had seen something like that happen. For God's sake, there was a time when a rape victim stripped in the middle of her cross examination. Still, he knew she was embarrassed, which made him feel uneasy as well. 

"Finally over, eh?" The girl finally broke the silence when they almost arrived at the cabin, her eyes focused on her small, and slow steps. 

"Yeah," he chuckled, taking a deep sigh. "Still, my weekend is gone and tomorrow I have to be up first thing in the morning. Have tons of work to do," he groaned, rolling his eyes like an angsty teenager. 

"Uh, that's too bad." He opened the door for her to enter, while she tried to come up with something to say. "My things are ready, let me just... change into something else so I can give you your shirt back," she said, quickly opening her bag hoping to have a spare blouse. 

His eyes light up with her words, feeling an opportunity rise up right in front of him. "No," he quickly replied, causing her to turn and glance at him curiously. "No rush in having it back, you can take it home, and we'll just meet each other again so you can give it back." He suggested carelessly, trying to diminish the fact he was hinting they should go out. 

A smile pulled her lips at his proposal, an anxious silence taking over their conversation. They stared at each other momentarily, with stupid grins on their faces.  

"Well, then you should have my number." 

"Can I have your number?" They said at the same time, followed up by them giggling like dumb children. 

"If you just asked for my number, and I offered it at the same time. Does my embarrassment cancel yours, and vice versa?" She asked shyly, taking her bags in hand to step out of the room. 

"I suppose it does," he cleared his throat, reaching out for the bag that seemed to be the heaviest. Damn it, did he feel stupid by acting so insecure for the first time in years.  

And so, they cheerfully made their way out of the place. A promise of reunion in the near future.

* * *

Entiendes?/ You understand?  
Si tú dices/ If you say so  
Nada que ver aqui/ Nothing to see here

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eeeeeek, don't hate me with that ending.  
> I couldn't find a good way to end it since there will be a continuation! 
> 
> Hopefully you all liked it as much as I enjoyed writing this silly piece. As I said, there's a continuation coming, but since it won't be at Camp Hope anymore, I figured it would be better to write a separate piece. Stay tuned for the culmination of this mess, I'm sure there's some questions to be answered.
> 
> And the fact that Rafael does not know she's waaaaaaay younger than him........ yet.
> 
> Hopefully I'll see you in my next work!  
> Best wishes xx


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